You don’t have to be a Certified Cicerone to know that beer and food pairing can be a wonderful, multi-sensory experience. Beer dinners, with multiple courses each paired with a brew, are becoming more and more common. Pairing with food both enhances and brings out new flavors in a beer. Duvig Brewing Company of Branford, CT will be hosting monthly beer dinners the first Thursday of each month. The next one will take place on Thursday, December 8 at 6:30 and will feature a menu from La Cucina of North Branford.

There’s tons of beer festivals now, so it takes something special to stand out from the crowd. For the 6th Annual Split Thy Skull festival, that special thing is barleywine. The event will take place at City Steam Brewery this Sunday, April 3, from 12:30-4:30 PM.

The Split Thy Skull Barleywine Fest is presented by Harvest Wine and Spirits and Harvest Country Store of West Hartford. The event began 6 years ago and was a more of a bottle share, in gratitude to loyal customers. It has grown exponentially, with over 100 different barleywines slated to be at this year’s event. Continue reading “Split Thy Skull- A Barleywine Showcase”→

One of my dream jobs has always been to DJ hockey games. And/or drive the Zamboni. While I am a Bruins fan, I’m always happy to watch them face off with the team my cable company thinks I should be a fan of: the New York Rangers. In honor of the game that will take place the day after Thanksgiving, I am going to do a hockey playlist pairing from New York and Boston bands with five beers from around those areas.

One of my dream jobs has always been to DJ hockey games. And/or drive the Zamboni. While I am a Bruins fan, I’m always happy to watch them face off with the team my cable company thinks I should be a fan of: the New York Rangers. In honor of the game that will take place the day after Thanksgiving, I am going to do a hockey playlist pairing from New York and Boston bands with five beers from around those areas. A tall order, you might say. I agree, so as with any good list, there are a few stipulations.

While the craft brewing movement is growing quickly enough to have 5 breweries in each city, I am going to branch out include areas outside of these two cities proper.

These are not only two major cities for music, but they are also two major cities that I love. So I am going to pair it down to records that I would want to hear at a hockey game but for whatever reason, never do. It is still a ton of stuff to pick from, but I’ll try to be realistic.

On that note, I’m leaving out stuff you already do hear at hockey games. Sorry, Kiss.

I’m also picking beers I’d want to drink at a hockey game. Lower ABV, if it comes in a can and can fit in one of my many coozies, great. As good they can be, I have found that drinking a 12% Russian Imperial Stout before/during a game is not always the best choice.

Since I prefer to save the best for last, I will start with the New York pairings.

I have been homebrewing for about four years now. While I have had other hobbies longer, homebrewing is probably the most interesting one I have ever had. Think about it- do you like cooking? Do you like making things? Do you like to drink? I don’t know too many people that cannot say yes to at least one of these questions.

The more people I talk to about it, the more I realize that homebrewing is much easier than people think it is. Sure, it can get difficult as you start to experiment with bigger batches, different ingredients, and new technology. But when it boils down, (all the puns intended), you are basically just following a recipe.

Saturday, November 7 is Learn To Homebrew Day. It was established by the American Homebrewers Association in 1999 to give homebrewers a chance to show non-brewers the ropes, and maybe get some new people into the hobby. Last year, a total of 6518 gallons of beer was brewed, at least according to the AHA report.

Like any other hobby, homebrewing has clubs. Connecticut has several, and I recently started going to a few meetings and events from Brew Haven, which is the New Haven area’s local club. Brew Haven will be hosting a Learn To Homebrew event this Saturday at the Outer Space in Hamden. Both extract and all-grain batches will be brewed so you can learn about the differences between both methods. Local homebrewers will also be on hand to answer questions. I myself might even make an appearance. Oh, and there will be plenty of beer to drink. Stop by between 12 and 4 PM- you just might learn something.

At the encouragement of several people, I am going to start writing reviews again. It’s been awhile, so many of these records won’t be that new. However, they are all ones I’ve enjoyed very much. The first one might be my favorite record of the year, and it is from a musician that I respect a great deal- Steven Wilson. While I generally love everything he has a hand in, his most recent solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. felt more personal to me than his other recordings. I was also lucky enough to see the album performed live in New York this spring, which really brought it to life. Continue reading “REVIEW: Steven Wilson “Hand. Cannot. Erase”/Stone Pale Ale 2.0″→

It has taken quite a long time for the Decemberists to grow on me. Although they have been around for about 15 years, it is only now that I am beginning to realize their brilliance. At least, enough to write a review of their latest record, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World.